Sunday
*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP*
Storm rolled over in his bed, the annoying sound of his alarm boring into his skull like a power drill. His arm flailed wildly, blindly searching for the source of his current predicament, before his fist finally connected with the irritating device, a satisfying crunch meeting his ears. A smile met his lips at almost the same time, finally glad that he could put off whatever it was he had to do for the rest of the day for just a few minutes longer. He rolled over onto his back, careful not to pinch his wings beneath him, and his mind began to go over the events of the night prior.
Lightning Dust had been a handful, literally, but that’s what made it so enjoyable. The way she had teased, and eventually got him mad had been genius on her part. She had admitted that she’d never had a rutting quite like that ever before. His thoughts strayed to their agreement before he had gone to bed, his eyes snapped open, hands gripping the sheets tightly as realization dawned on him. Glancing down at what remained of his alarm clock, his focus shifted up to the clock on the wall, as he noticed he was already an hour late, much to his chagrin.
“Dammit, Spit’s gonna kill me!” He yelled out. He moved to get off his bed but his foot got tangled up in the sheets and he fell, his face meeting the floor as a result. For a moment he didn’t move, he just laid there waiting for the pain in his face to recede as he held his hand to his throbbing head. When the time felt right and the pain had subsided enough, he finally pushed himself off the floor.
He headed straight for the shower and rinsed off quickly, making sure to check his wings for any damage. He stumbled out of the steamy bathroom, almost tripping over himself in his haste, and he finally located his hygiene products. Brushing his teeth, slapping on some deodorant and a quick spray of cologne, he turned to his closet. He quickly threw on a t-shirt, cargo pants, socks, and a pair of boots. Lucky enough for him, he had thought to pack for the week long occasion several days ago, so he grabbed his duffel bag and slung it over his shoulder, careful to make sure his wings wouldn’t get caught on it. Double-checking himself to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything, he opened his window and let the breeze blow by him momentarily. He spread his wings open and looked out towards the cloudless sky. ‘At least I will be able to enjoy the flight over there, before Spit deals with me.’ With that, he ran towards the window and jumped out head-first.
With a few pumps of his wings, he climbed through the air at a rapid pace. When he was at a comfortable altitude, he stopped his ascent and hovered in place. Looking around, he quickly located the white marble towers of Canterlot Castle. He ran his hand over the strap of his duffle bag to make sure it was still secure around him. Concluding that it would hold, he faced his destination once more, and with one powerful flap of his wings, he was off. Luckily for him, the trip from the Wonderbolt Academy to Canterlot wasn’t a long trip, per say, but for a pegasus pony like himself with several years of flight training, he was feeling more than confident about making it there in under thirty minutes.
He landed right outside the Canterlot Concert Hall and quickly hurried inside, rummaging around in his duffle for his ID and overshirt, he finally found them and flashed his ID to the security guard before hastily throwing on his black button-up shirt. Running a hand through his windswept mane, he paused momentarily before the large door at the end of the hall, hearing the voices of several ponies conversing on the other side. Mentally bracing himself for the figurative ass-chewing he would get for this, he took a deep breath and opened the door to the concert hall.
All conversation swiftly stopped as the eyes of those in the room landed on him as soon as he entered the massive atrium. Many of his teammates, save for Spitfire, were trying to hold back their laughter at his tardiness. The members of The Canterlot Orchestra looked at him slightly taken aback, as the few that had gotten over their shock, scoffed at his rather casual and messy appearance. However, one mare in particular caught his eye and she, like Spitfire, was glaring daggers at him.
“How wonderful it is of you to finally join us.” A low, yet noticeably irritated female voice said from behind him. He spun around and immediately felt a lump rise in his throat as he beheld Princess Luna standing right behind him, arms crossed and a knowing smirk adorning her face as she looked him over. “We took the liberty of already dividing into working pairs, we figured you would show up eventually, but I regret to inform you that we couldn’t wait forever, Storm Chaser.”
“Sorry about that Princess, my alarm clock and I don’t get along even on our best days.” He scratched the back of his head, wondering how in the hell he had missed her as he walked in. “I have to ask though, what do you mean by splitting up into partnered groups, and why are you here in the first place?” He gestured to his teammates, the Orchestra cadre, and finally, her herself.
“If you had been on time then you would surely know and not need to ask such trivial questions.”
Princess Luna put a hand onto his shoulder. “However, to answer your last question, my niece, Princess Cadence, cooked up this whole idea and she would have been here herself, but something urgent came up in the Crystal Kingdom and it couldn’t wait, so I am here in her stead.” Luna explained in a somewhat dull voice that hinted at her irritation of not being able to sleep right now. “I will answer you first question in due time, but seeing as how everyone has already picked their partner you will be paired with the only remaining member. Miss Philharmonica, come up here and introduce yourself, if you please.” Princess Luna looked in the direction he had been facing just a few minutes before. He turned around and saw the same mare that had been giving him a death glare now walking towards him. When she was standing next to him, she extended her hand.
“My name is Octavia Philharmonica, it is a pleasure to meet you.” Her voice was firm and professional but did nothing to hide the fact that she was less than thrilled to be paired with him. She had a jet black mane and tail, smooth-looking grey fur, and piercing grey eyes. She wore a simple pair of black dress pants, a white blouse with a grey sweater vest over it, and to top it off a pink bow was wrapped snuggly around her neck, adding a splash of color to the grayscale ensemble she wore. He also noticed she smelled faintly of lavender.
Shrugging off her poorly hidden remark, he smiled at her and extended his own hand until he felt his fingers grasp hers. “I’m Storm Chaser, and the pleasure is mine, Miss Octavia.” He delivered a small, mock-bow while holding her hand, failing to notice her turn a light shade of pink at his gesture. Straightening himself up, he released her hand and turned back to the princess. “I’m assuming that you have already explained the point of all this when I was gone, and will be leaving it to Octavia to fill me in?” He asked nonchalantly. As his eyes darted towards Spitfire, he could swear he saw her growl at him. His eyes snapped back to the princess just as she had begun to speak.
“You would be assuming too much then, Storm Chaser. Not even the Canterlot Orchestra, nor any of your teammates, know the reason behind this, but seeing as you have finally arrived, I can inform everyone.” He rolled his eyes at the jab the princess had taken at him, but quickly shrugged it off and brought his attention back to her, careful to keep a safe distance from Spitfire, just in case.
“Princess Cadence thought that with the combination of the Canterlot Orchestra and the Wonderbolts, would be an educational venue for both parties.” The princess continued, despite several strange looks from the other ponies in the room. “Each pairing can learn from each other, what they do and how they work. You will be living together, eating together, and learning together for one week.” At this there was a sudden viable bout of complaints directed at the princess. After several moments of mind-numbing complaints and incoherent mumbling, the princess finally spoke. “SILENCE!” The one word spoken in the traditional Royal Canterlot voice, echoed considerably due to the enclosed nature of the atrium, made the room go deathly quiet. Luna cleared her throat, “As I was saying, the end product of this...adventure, will be a combined public performance of the Orchestra and the Wonderbolts. There is no room for argument and my sister has already approved of this. In addition, the Wonderbolt members will be living with their designated partners of the Canterlot Orchestra. With that in mind, I would advise the members of the orchestra to take the time to prepare for each of your guests.” Princess Luna looked over the crowd, almost daring them to argue. When no further objections came forth, she continued. “Now then, you will begin tomorrow, so be back here at 07:30 sharp.” Storm noticed her gaze linger on him longer than the others but on that note she turned around. “You are all dismissed.” With that, she walked out the door.
As several members of both the orchestra and the Wonderbolts began to leave, he turned to Octavia. “Well, I suppose I’ll see you tomorrow at 07:30, it was a pleasure to meet you Octavia.” He extended his hand towards her again, which she grasped firmly in her own. They stood there in silence for a few seconds before she finally spoke, neither of them paying attention to rest of their friends moving out the door.
“Indeed I will be seeing you tomorrow, but I highly doubt at 07:30. At least tomorrow, try to be reasonably late instead.” His eyebrows furrowed at the unnecessary comment but he said nothing. He watched her grab her purse and walk out the door before bending down and turning to grab his own bag. He froze as he was looking at a pair of very familiar orange legs, as he straightened up he came face to face with a very angry Spitfire. Her orange eyes seemed to be on fire as her furious gaze caught his. Unfortunately he realized, there was no avoiding her wrath; she was holding his duffle bag.
He waited until the last pony had left, indicated by the closing of the door behind them, before speaking. “Spitfire, I can explain.” He swallowed hard, sweat beginning to drip down his neck. ‘If I’m not late tomorrow due to serious injuries it will be a miracle.’ Not once in his life had Storm ever been this afraid, he would rather face an entire changeling hive at this point, and in all honesty, it probably would be a lot less painful than what he was expecting from the furious mare standing in front of him.
“You better have a pretty damn good excuse Storm! No less than fighting a dragon will be good enough to make up for you being almost TWO HOURS LATE!” Breaking what little composure she had within her with her screams, she punctuated the ending of her sentence by swinging his duffle bag into the side of his head. He managed to put his hands up just in time to stop the brunt of the hit, but the force still knocked him into the wall.
“You crazy mare, are you trying to get me injured!?” He yelled. Realizing his mistake too late he clapped his hands to his mouth and mentally berated himself, before quickly trying to take back his defensive outburst. “I’m sorry Spit, I didn’t mean-” He was cut off by several more violent swings of his duffle bag. Being backed up into the wall he really had no choice but to take it.
“THIS CRAZY MARE HAPPENS TO BE YOUR CAPTAIN, STORM!” She yelled, still swinging Storm’s bag into him. His hands were up in a futile effort to protect himself. “WHAT IN EQUESTRIA WAS SO IMPORTANT THAT THE PRINCESS HAD TO COME TO ME ASKING WHERE YOU WERE!?" She was positively fuming at this point, but she continued. "LYING TO THE PRINCESS TO COVER YOUR SORRY ASS DOESN'T MAKE A GOOD IMPRESSION, STORM!" When the bag didn’t hit him again he looked up at her. She was breathing heavily and glaring at him. Her clothes were rustled and her mane looked like she had just been through a tornado, but she seemed to be calm enough to give him a chance to explain himself.
“I’m sorry Spit, I really don’t have an excuse. I had a really late night last night and I slept through my alarm. I tried to make up time on the flight over here and I made it in under thirty minutes, but it still doesn’t make up for how late I was. I really am sorry; it was very unprofessional and makes us as a team look bad.” He looked her right in the eyes as he said this, knowing that his explanation, or lack thereof, didn’t stand a chance in hell of persuading her, but dammit he was going to try.
“... I see.” Those were the only words she spoke as she lowered his duffle bag before releasing it from her grip. “You’re right, that isn’t an excuse, let alone a good one, but more importantly you understand how it affects us a whole.” He watched her walk up to him, when she was standing right in front of him, he stiffened up, bracing himself for a hit or shout from her...it didn’t come. “You are a really important member of our team, Storm, your dedication to the training of the new recruits, the team overall, as well as your own training speaks volumes alone about your talent, but you can’t keep this behavior up any more.” He felt her gently place her hand on the side of his face as she looked right into his eyes, making sure he was truly listening to her. “I don’t want to get rid of you Storm, after everything we’ve been through, you and me, and the team as well. But if you don’t change the way you’re behaving, then I’ll have no choice but to remove you.”
He held her gaze; she was being dead serious about this. What’s more, he knew that she was right. He brought his hand up and covered hers with his own. “I understand Spit, as Captain you have to do what’s best for the team and if that means I’m a problem, then you’d have to get rid of me. I won’t lie, changing won’t be easy, but I swear I’ll try for you, and the team, okay?”
She smiled at him, patting his cheek. “That’s the Storm Chaser I remember.” She slowly stepped back. Turning around, she picked up his duffel bag and handed it to him. As he reached for it she spoke once more. “If you need any help, anything at all, you can always come talk to me. Okay?” He reached out and grabbed the bag. Swinging it over his shoulder, he smiled timidly at her.
“Sure, Spit, I appreciate it.” She nodded and made her way out the door. When she was gone, all the soreness from her assault came back to him in one giant wave. ‘Tomorrow is going to suck.’
